In Before the Dawn
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee in a car together for four hours? What's the worst than can happen? What's the best that can happen? Could it be love?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the real people or characters in this story. The characters belong to the WWE, and the real people own themselves. This story will contain some swearing and I guess some adult situations, but it should be pretty tame, so read at your own discretion.**

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I'm just obsessed with AJ and Dolph right now, and it's coming out creatively. Anyways, Dolph did an interview last week while in Cleveland, and he said that he, Big E, and AJ were all traveling together, and had driven from Kalamazoo to Cleveland. This story is an interpretation of what could have happened on that road trip. This does lean to real life and storylines as scripted, but I just decided to use their ring names to make it easier.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review if you want me to continue. And I'm an adult, I can handle brutality, so be honest! :)

* * *

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone fall asleep so fast."

AJ giggled, but tried to keep it quiet. "He must not have slept much last night."

"I guess not," Dolph said, looking in his rearview mirror at Big E, who was fast asleep in the backseat. His head was leaning against the window and he was actually snoring softly, which only made his two companions laugh even harder. "So I guess I'll be stuck driving the entire four hours."

"No, we can switch off, I'm good," AJ told him, "if you need me to take over at any point, I definitely can. I mean, I'm used to driving with a buddy."

"I usually like to drive alone so I'll probably be good," he glanced over at her to give her a brief smile before he turned his eyes back onto the road. "Not that I mind this situation right now."

"Nice save," she pursed her lips as she stared out onto the road for a moment. It was late and the roads were pretty much deserted. They'd had a late dinner after the event then had spent some time getting snacks for their trip so by the time they actually got onto the road, it was past midnight. "Why do you like to drive alone?"

"I don't know, gives me time to think, I guess," Dolph said, "and nobody is more entertaining than I am so I keep myself happy."

"Drop the cocky attitude," AJ told him, lightly punching him in the shoulder. He pretended to wince, but her small fists were probably like a pillow hitting his arm after he got pummeled every night for a living. "What do you like to think about, real answers only, please?"

He thought about it for a moment even though he knew the answer already. Maybe he was contemplating whether or not he wanted to divulge the information to the petite brunette. They'd certainly gotten closer since their storyline began together, but this would be opening himself up in a way that he hadn't before, and that was a little scary. But then, wasn't it always scary when you opened yourself up to someone?

The two of them had known about the storyline since late October, not the logistics, but that they would be paired together. It seemed inevitable, they were told, that their arguing would lead to something. It seemed a little bit on the clichéd side when they heard it. They were both long-time wrestling fans, they'd see this happen time and time again. Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon hating each other for years then turning business partners, Christian and Trish fighting over Chris Jericho only to reveal they were a couple, Edge and Lita on opposing sides of a tag team war only to admit they were having an affair (except that was the truth). Still, this was the story they were given, and they were both intent on making it work.

The first couple weeks of their coupling had been rocky for both. They'd played it off well enough, but it was awkward, and having not made out with that much vigor in front of the cameras, both of them looked like they were trying to eat each other's faces. They'd found their groove now, and they'd found some common ground in their real lives and it was showing on television. But television was where his thoughts were often held.

"Mostly how I can be a bigger presence in the company," he finally admitted, squinting his eyes a little as he thought out his words. "I feel like I'm on the cusp, but I'm not there yet. It's the whole glass ceiling thing."

"You want to break through, I get that," AJ nodded. "Do you…do you feel like we saddled you in any way?"

He was surprised she would ask that so bluntly. AJ had a way of being awkward, so to hear her ask him something so serious with the tone of voice she was using, he found there was yet another facet to her personality. He liked making new discoveries about her. She deserved the truth either way though, "At first, yes. I mean, you can't really blame me, right? After two years with Vickie, I was just…I thought it was my time to break out."

"I completely understand," AJ said, "when they were bouncing me around from Daniel to Punk to Kane to Punk and Daniel at the same time to Cena, I just kept thinking, what if I could just be a female wrestler?"

"So then I can ask you the same thing, do you feel saddled with me?"

"You didn't finish answering me," she retorted, sitting up in her seat straighter, but she still looked small enough to fit in his pocket. Big E felt more comfortable in the large backseat so AJ was now being dwarfed in the front seat. "You have to answer me first before I answer you."

"So what is this, 20 questions now?"

"We need to get to know each other," she told him, reaching out to him again, but not to punch him, instead to squeeze his arm. "Wow, your hoodie is so soft, I'm going to steal it once you take it off."

"You'd drown in it."

"I'd be warm," she told him, running her hand up and down it for a second. "Yeah, totally going to steal it then I'll make you wear my cardigan."

"If you want it ripped, sure," he told her. "So we need to get to know each other?"

"Uh huh," she nodded enthusiastically. "We're in this together, well, us and E, but he's the loser who fell asleep on us. So the two of us will have to find out everything about each other and we'll freak him out by how well we suddenly know each other."

"That's the only reason?" he laughed.

"Well, no, I mean, look at us, we're travel buddies now, and I'm assuming this is going to be permanent, unless you want to be a lone wolf again, do you want to be a lone wolf again?" she asked him. "All by yourself, eating by yourself, talking to yourself…"

"I want to know what it's like in your brain," he said, "but no, I like traveling with you guys, I mean, so far, one hour in, one of you is passed out in the backseat and the other is like a hyper child."

"Ouch," she told him, "I'm going to choose to move on from that, thank you very much, so come on, you did feel saddled, so what then? Has it changed? I'm not going to be _too_ offended if you still feel saddled by us. I mean, I will probably open the door and roll out of the car at high speeds, but you won't have to feel bad."

"I don't anymore, I like having you by my side," Dolph said. "I know that people have been saying you're holding me back, that I've lost momentum, but I don't want to see it that way. I mean, yeah, we haven't been doing too well lately, but I have to have trust in creative that they know what they're doing. I don't feel like I lose anything with you by my side."

"That's fair," she said, "I didn't ever feel saddled by you because I just think it's different for female wrestlers. I just wish I could be more like a Lita, you know, be with a guy, but wrestle as well, but it may be coming. I mean, I did film the match for Saturday Morning Slam, but I'd like more like that."

"You should tell them. You probably have more clout than I do, I mean, you were in the most high profile spot during the summer," he pointed out.

"You're Mr. Money in the Bank," she reminded him. "That means you have a spot, a good one. We just have to be patient, we both know with all of the returns, we were going to get pushed back, it sucks, but it is what it is."

"Yeah," he said, "I just wish it wasn't that way. I wish I was in the position where I could demand things. I'm not, but I wish I could be, I guess I think of ways that I can do that."

"You'll get there," AJ told him, "You have so much talent you can't go anywhere but up. You're not like…well, I know you're friends with him, but you're not like Zack. I think he has a little bit of novelty that doesn't sit well with the higher-ups, but you have it all."

"Thanks," he told her, turning to watch her for a moment, but she was facing the window again.

"Just the truth," she responded quietly as the car fell into silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was actually nice.

This was the first time they were traveling together, and he feared it would be awkward and the conversation stilted, but it wasn't at all. Before E fell asleep, they were all exchanging the dirtiest jokes they knew, with Dolph obviously winning and grossing AJ out to the point where she said she wanted to put on every piece of clothing she brought with her. He knew she was funny, he'd been around her enough times to know that, but he had no idea how funny and sarcastic she could be. He'd finally found a person who could actually go toe-to-toe with him, and to find it in her was a shock, but a pleasant one.

"So do you resent any of the other wrestlers?" AJ asked out of the blue and he nearly swerved the car at the question.

"Wow, you sure do like to just go out guns blazing, don't you?" he wondered.

"Just trying to get to know you better, right?" she shrugged one shoulder, turning back to him. "I mean, I know you say all the time that you don't think John is a great wrestler and all of that, so how much of that is truth?"

"A lot," Dolph said, "and it's not that he's not a _good_ wrestler, he's just not a great one. But you know what, he came in at the right time, he had the right image, and you can't hate a guy for that. I just have to try harder. I know that I can be that guy if they'd let me. The height thing is always going to be my biggest drawback, but I can't change it, and there have been guys, like Jericho, like HBK who have gotten there and not been the biggest guys. I'm athletic and I've got that going for me—"

"Too athletic apparently," she joked, and his lips curved up in a smile and he nodded his head.

"I'm never going to live that one down, am I?" Dolph asked.

"I'm just repeating what I've heard," she giggled as he started to laugh. "I'm sorry, but if one of my exes ever said that about me, I think I'd crawl into a hole and die."

"What can you do?" he flipped his hand over in a universal gesture of 'c'est la vie.' "And there's worse things she could say, at least with this, the legend of Dolph Ziggler grows into something more."

"Oh, the _legend_, huh?" she asked.

"If you want me to demonstrate right now, I can," he told her.

"With an audience," she jerked her thumb to the backseat.

"Obviously I would pull over," Dolph told her and she threw her head back and laughed. "What? You don't think I could do it?"

"No, it's just, I'm athletic too, I've got abs, I don't think I'd find you too athletic at all," she told him smugly, patting her stomach. "But just this once, we'll pretend like I believe you. How does that sound?"

"Fine, fine, fine," he told her, but he smirked and she slapped him on the arm, "Oww! Watch it, I'm tender from my match. Anyways, back to your question, it's not that I resent him, it's that I want to be that, and I'm striving for it. How about you, resent anyone?"

"Not really, I guess it goes back to getting to wrestle, I want the divas title, but…"

"You're stuck with me," he finished for her.

"I wouldn't say I'm _stuck_ with you, I like being with you."

"You should bring it up with one of the agents," Dolph said, "say that you'd like to wrestle more. Hey, when I become World Champion, you being the Divas Champion would be perfect, we could make them see that."

"That would be pretty cool, actually. We'd be such a power couple."

"Seems like a pipe dream right now."

"We'll start winning again, I'm sure of it."

"It's just…we should be making bigger waves, you know. We _should_ be doing so much more, and I feel like…I just feel like we've been put on the back-burner because of all the guys that came back."

"Hey," AJ was running her hand on his arm again, but this time, it wasn't to feel his hoodie. "We'll get back there, I promise you that. Once everyone leaves, they'll look right to you again. Because you've been here, you've worked your butt off, and they know you deserve it. They better know or else I'll really go crazy AJ on them."

"Thanks," he told her. "You're kind of good at knowing the right thing to say."

"See, you learned a new thing about me."

Dolph glanced at her again, and she was smiling at him, another bright one, the kind that lit up her eyes. He found his mouth turning up nearly against its will. He was starting to really like her smile. In fact, he was kind of starting to like a lot more than just her smile. He'd chalked it up to circumstances for weeks now. They had to kiss at every show, so there was bound to be some lust issues, especially when he essentially traded up from Vickie to AJ. When he kissed Vickie, it very much felt like acting, but kissing AJ…well, it was starting to get comfortable, almost too comfortable. And her touch was starting to be familiar on his skin, and her fingers were starting to find the spots on his scalp that drove him wild.

Suddenly, being in a car with her for three more hours felt like torture.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all so much for all the reviews and everything for the first chapter of this story. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy reading it. If you want to leave a review, I'd love you forever, but it's not required. Either way, I hope you enjoy reading! :)

* * *

"We should prank him."

"You want to prank a man who could lift us both at the same time and throw us?" Dolph asked, glancing at AJ, laughing as she grabbed a bag of chips. He glanced over at her and watched as she perused some of the other snacks before she grabbed a bag of peanuts. She looked at them, made a face, and put them back before grabbing another bag of chips. He laughed softly and was caught with her stare.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head to look at him staring at her. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but some of it escaped, shading across her face.

"Just your selection process, not in the mood for peanuts?"

"I thought it was trail mix, you know, the kind with raisins and stuff in it," she shrugged, "I misread the label so more chips it is!"

"Instead of looking for actual trail mix, which I'm sure they have somewhere in here," he gestured around to the spacious gas station convenience store.

"Probably," she shrugged, "but I don't have enough time to go search for it, so more chips! Do you think we should get anything for E?"

"Um, maybe, I'm not totally sure what he likes though," Dolph said, looking around aimlessly, as if something would jump out at him. "I can't believe how asleep he is, he's like down for the count, I hope we don't have to drag him into my parent's house, they might think we murdered him."

AJ giggled, "I think he's just a heavy sleeper, probably good for falling asleep in odd places," AJ said, "I think he has some food left over from our first stop since he fell asleep so quickly, we can probably skip him for now, and then we'll be at your parent's house…are you sure it's okay if we stay there, I mean, yeah, we've been working together, but I don't want you to feel like you actually _have_ to invite us."

"What's the point of you staying in a hotel when my parents have two extra bedrooms because my brothers don't live there anymore?" Dolph asked. "As long as you don't mind a bedroom that looks like a shrine to wrestling, you'll be fine."

"I had a room once like that," she told him nostalgically. "It was in this one place we actually got to spend nine months in. It was one of the longest places we ever managed to hold growing up. I had to share with my sister, who was and is such a girly girl, but I made sure my half of the room was an homage to wrestling."

Dolph admired AJ's resiliency, probably more than anything else about her, even her growing up a wrestling fan like him. One night, they were bored and hung out at a little diner all night, talking, and she'd told him a lot about her past, how she'd had pretty much nothing, and he had to admire how far she'd come. There was something so cool about how she'd bucked every hardship to become such a success, and she'd risen to being the most popular diva in the company. He kind of felt proud to be in a storyline with her because she was kind of amazing.

"My bedroom is the same way," Dolph said, "kind of funny to walk back inside and see guys I work with."

AJ giggled and grabbed a bag of cookies, "I know what you mean, I had a poster of Kane so can you imagine how awkward it is that I've kissed him? I mean, it's like, a girl getting to live their dream, not that I dreamt about kissing Kane…that would have been weird."

"Well, you do play slightly deranged," he said, as she hit him in the arm playfully. In retaliation, he grabbed all the things from her arms and carried them himself. She stared after him for a moment before watching as he went to the front of the store and grabbed a basket. He came back over and smiled at her, "I thought we might need one, seems you're stocking up even though we're only going to be on the road for a couple more hours."

"You don't know what I do alone in my room," she told him with a frown, "I may just squirrel it all away and then binge in bed, I hope your parents don't mind vacuuming up crumbs."

"We'll see, they could kick you out," Dolph shrugged as he grabbed a bottled water and threw it in their basket. "But don't worry, I'd defend you, we're a team now, right?"

She ducked her head and looked up at him. Her look disarmed him a little bit. When she was genuinely happy and playful, it was like her face glowed, like all that happiness was just radiating from her smile and her eyes and the way her cheeks tinged red. He cleared his throat and grabbed an extra bottled water. But just when he thought he might be okay, she grabbed his upper arm, her small hand curling against his and pulled him to a different section of the store.

"Oh my God, they have shaving cream, I swear, we should pull a prank on E for falling asleep on us," AJ told him, her eyes lighting up as she picked up the can and shook it temptingly in front of his face. "Come on, we can pull the 'ol shaving cream in the hands thing…"

"What are we, 12 year old girls at a sleepover?" he joked.

"No, in that case, we'd be freezing his bra…still not cool that he has a bigger rack than I do, but I was not blessed in that department," she lamented with a deep sigh.

Dolph gulped a little, not wanting to stare because she was totally covered up right now, but he thought she had a nice body. He'd been with a lot of curvier girls, but there was something cute about her petite frame. She fit into his side so perfectly. He always made note of that whenever he had to pull her into his side. Her height was just right for him to be able to lay his chin on top of her head, and somehow, he liked that. He shook his head free from his thoughts because they were starting to enter dangerous territory again.

They were coworkers, and although he'd dated coworkers before, this situation was different. It was the proximity with which he worked with her that was probably making these feelings prominent in his brain. At least that's what he tried to tell himself when he justified the way he felt when she slipped her arm through hers so they could go over to the candy section. It was such a simple gesture, meant only to lead him to a different section of the store, but it was also an unconscious one and he wondered what her feelings on the situation were, but he didn't dare ask her.

"Are you okay with how we portray ourselves onscreen?" he asked her.

AJ turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "We're back to the serious questions portion of our evening, are we?"

"I'm just wondering."

"I like that we're together," AJ started as she narrowed her eyes in concentration. "I like I don't have kiss a bunch of guys anymore, and I like that you're nice to me, I like that a lot. It's like, I've played this girl who nobody wants, they let her hang around, but they never _want_ her around. But you…you want me around, and you like having me around, and I really appreciate that they could let my character go there finally."

He smiled at her explanation, but knew she wasn't done yet. He was surprised by how well they actually went together. Nobody would have expected it, and when he first was told the idea, he'd been more than reluctant because their characters were so different. He was a show-off, someone who thought he was better than everyone else, a cocky guy, and she was this nerdy girl who liked comic books and anime, and it just didn't seem like a pairing that the WWE fans would buy.

"And I think that we are pretty damn hot," AJ giggled, but blushed at the same time. "And you're the only one who ever asked if you could use tongue."

"Well, I don't think Bryan knows how to, and Punk—"

"He just went for it," AJ told him as Dolph laughed. "I don't know if I did, but I swear, I almost opened my eyes in shock when he went for it, and Kane did nothing because he had to act like a creep, and Cena…well—"

"So I'm the best kisser?"

"I haven't kissed many guys in my life, I only got my first kiss when I was 21 so, you know, I don't have a whole field sample."

"You mean to tell me that nobody wanted to kiss _you_ until you were 21, what is _wrong_ with guys if they didn't want to kiss you?" he asked incredulously, only realizing his slip-up afterwards. He cleared his throat, but it was too late, she was beaming at him.

"So you would have kissed me before I was 21?" she asked lightly, swinging her body back and forth, trying to catch him in a blush, and he was not a man who blushed.

"I never said that, but I can't imagine nobody kissing you before then or wanting to."

"I was a dork," she shrugged, "when did you get your first kiss?"

"I was 12," he answered, "classic spin-the-bottle game, had a few first kisses with different girls that night."

"Oh, so you were an early bloomer, no wonder you're the best kisser I've had," she told him coyly, grabbing a box of Red Vines finally and putting it into their basket.

"So you think it depends on experience? Because if that's the case, did Cena have his first kiss like a week before he kissed you?" Dolph wondered and AJ burst into such loud laughter, the scant few people also shopping at this hour looked over at the pair. AJ turned beet red and pulled herself into Dolph's body, burying his face into his hoodie as she laughed.

"Now everyone in here is going to think I'm weird."

"Just like the rest of the WWE universe," Dolph told her and she laughed again. He ran his hand over her hair in a friendly (he hoped she thought that) gesture. "Come on, we better go pay before they throw us out and we starve on the way to Cleveland. Do you need anything else?"

"I think I have everything," she mumbled against him. She finally pulled away from him, her face still a little flushed, and they made their way to the front of the store. Dolph put the basket on the counter as the cashier eyed AJ, which made her look down. She snickered to herself and Dolph reached out to pat her comfortingly on the back as he pulled out his wallet. Her head shot up when she saw him do so, "I can—"

"Not even going to happen," he pulled out his debit card and paid for their items.

"But…"

"I said it wasn't going to happen," he told her as he grabbed the plastic bags of their stuff and wished the cashier a good night. They walked out into the brisk air and back to their car. He put their bags on the front seat and then walked around to fill the gas tank. He thought AJ might get back into the car, but she came around and stood next to him. Dolph looked in the backseat. "Should we check on him or something, make sure he is, in fact, still alive?"

"I think I see him breathing," AJ peered into the backseat.

"How freaked out would he be if he woke up right now and your face was pressed against the glass?" Dolph wondered.

"So _now_ you want to prank him, but my shaving cream idea was a bust?" she pulled away from the window and glared at him. He shrugged carelessly as she pretended to be angry with him. Instead though, she started to shiver a little bit. Her cardigan was light so he took off his hoodie and handed it to her. "What are you doing?"

"You're cold," he told her, "put this on, even in the car you were shivering, and I believe there was a threat for you to actually steal this hoodie at some point, so in order to do so I'd have to take it off, unless you wanted to get it in it with me, but I totally don't want to stretch it."

"You're going to freeze out here!" she protested, shoving his hand back towards him.

"You don't think I come hoodie-prepared?" Dolph asked her. "I have one in my duffel in the back. It's like you with your Converse, I have about 50 or so hoodies, a whole array of them. Here, you take this so you don't arrive in Cleveland an icicle."

"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively. He shook out his hoodie and stepped around her to put it on her shoulders. Then he opened the trunk and grabbed a gray hoodie out of his bag, putting it on quickly. As he was closing the trunk, he saw AJ slip her arms into his hoodie and pull it around her. It was way too large on her, and she practically swum in it, but she zipped it up anyways, letting the sleeves fall over her hands as she wrapped her arms around her torso.

"Better?" he asked, coming over her shoulder as she jumped, startled.

"Yeah, thanks, it's warm and soft, just like I knew it would be," she told him, her smile soft and thankful. "It smells good too, like you."

"You think I smell good?"

"You know you smell good," she told him, rolling her eyes, "that's why you continue to smell good because you know it."

"That makes no sense," he said as he put the gas valve back into its holder as AJ put the tank cap on. Even filling up their gas tank, they were a good team. She just shrugged and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thanks for the hoodie," she told him before she went around the car and climbed back in the passenger seat. He simply stared at where she stood for a moment before climbing back into the car.

She was making his life very difficult right now.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and such, really appreciate it, hope you enjoy the chapter, review if it tickles your fancy! :)

* * *

"Where do you buy your hoodies?"

He glanced over at her as she snuggled deeper into his hoodie, her hands completely gone as her petite body swum inside the cozy fabric. He took his eyes off her and put them back on the road where they belonged even as they wanted to linger further, take in every aspect of her in his clothing. It would keep his mind from wandering towards thinking about her wearing nothing but his hoodie.

"That's my secret, why would I tell you when I think you look good in my hoodie?" he said playfully, hoping to come off as charming and not weird.

She giggled, "Okay, okay, keep your big secret."

They fell back into silence, the only sounds being the car on the road, the soft, almost nonexistent music playing from the muted radio, and the occasional snuffle from E in the backseat. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, in fact, it was so comfortable, Dolph almost got lost in it His eyes focused on the road, but everything else was narrowed down to that car, like the world simply existed within the four doors.

"So, I never got around to asking," AJ started, breaking the silence and nearly startling him, "Are you seeing anyone? I mean, I assumed you weren't, but I should probably ask, don't you think? Just in case, I mean, I probably should have asked you that fist, seeing as how we're making out every week, but yeah…I guess I just figured if you were, you'd be like, 'Hey, my girlfriend would prefer it if you didn't shove your tongue down my throat like you were Alien,' or something to that effect."

"I am not seeing anyone," he told her, "and even if I were, this is our job, I mean, it's not like we're doing this right now or anything, not that I wouldn't make out with you right now or anything…I'm just digging a deeper hole for myself, aren't I?"

"Kind of," she giggled, "so why don't you have a girlfriend? I mean, you're you, and you're attractive, and you smell good, and you're funny, and you're really smart."

"You think I'm attractive?" he tried to stifle his grin, but he couldn't help it, she thought he was attractive.

"Don't even tell me you don't think you're attractive, Dolph, don't even go there," she swatted him on the arm. "We both know you are attractive, and girls are always falling over you, it's just strange to think that you, of all people, are single."

"Why is that so difficult to believe?"

"Because you've got so much going for you, and there are bound to be loads of women who want you, hell, after your ex said that about you in bed, I bet the number doubled," AJ told him as Dolph pretended to act scandalized. "I'm not a guy, but isn't that usually what you want other girls to hear?"

"Not on national radio, no," Dolph said, "it's not a big deal, I mean, Amy, we're cool and everything. It wasn't _just_ that, although she could have told me she was going to say it—"

"Yeah, she should have."

"Either way, you know how hard it is to have a relationship in this business," Dolph looked at her, "I mean, you dated Jay and then you dated Trent, and they were in the business, so it helped, but have you ever dated anyone not in it?"

"No, I haven't," she shook her head, "you underestimate my charm and my appeal towards the male persuasion."

"I don't think I do, but when you can't see someone for weeks on end, things get pretty old pretty quick. It's easier in the business, but then you might spend too much time with them. That's what happened with me and Nikki. I loved her, she was great, but it just felt stifling."

"So do you think you'll ever feel stifled because of me?" she wondered, and if he'd had anything in his mouth, he'd be choking right now. For a second, he thought she was coming onto him, right here in this car, with Big E snoring in the backseat, on a road to his parent's house in Cleveland. But then he came back to himself and realized she simply meant because they spent so much time together.

"I mean, it's only been a few months, and we just started traveling together, and if I can put up with Vickie for two years…"

"Did you travel with her?" AJ asked.

"A couple times, but not really. Vickie was a friend, for sure, but she wasn't the kind of friend I typically would hang out with. I mean, we just have a lot of different interests."

"So do we," AJ was quick to note, and while true, they had a lot in common as well. That's what he liked about AJ, maybe liked too much at this point. She had her own interests, her own loves, but they could also come together over their shared interests. It made her interesting, far more interesting than he'd ever found anyone before.

"But it's different with us."

"How?" she wondered, turning a little in her seat so she could look at him, the hoodie falling over her hands again as she moved to scoot the sleeves back up her arms. "I mean, how is it different?"

"Well, she's a mom and everything, she has different worries, and you and me, we just relate on a different level, that's all. Vickie preferred to travel with other women, and that's cool, but I like traveling with you, it's different. I won't get sick of you, I haven't gotten sick of you. Sometimes you just know when two people are compatible."

"So we're compatible now?"

"Yeah, we are," he nodded, "so what about you? Do you have any guy waiting at home?"

"Just my number one," she told him, "but you've met him, short, blond, likes to chew on things."

"I think I know who you're talking about," Dolph laughed. "But no guy catching your eye?"

"No," she said, but the way she said it was drawn out, but maybe he was reading too much into it. It wouldn't be the first time he read too much into something, and he didn't want to risk anything right now. It felt like he was on the precipice of some huge discovery, but he didn't want to go down that road because it would only lead to unrequited feelings and awkwardness.

"You do know there are about a million guys who would want you, right? I mean, if anyone is kidding themselves around here, it's you," he joked. "You're the geek goddess, remember? I bet you caused a lot of late night fodder for teenage boys when you won that video game challenge at WrestleMania last year."

"Oh, you mean that they aren't just focused on my butt?" AJ said as Dolph snickered. "Oh yeah, laugh it up, like there aren't people still talking about your wardrobe malfunction."

"I really could use a tan," he kidded back as she guffawed and covered her face.

"Would you two be quiet, a guy can't even get a nap back here," Big E said from the backseat.

"E, we've been driving for hours, we even stopped at a gas station, I don't think you were taking a nap, I think you went into a coma on us," Dolph told him.

"What are you even talking about that has you so loud you gotta wake a man up?" E asked, rubbing at his eyes a little bit.

"Oh, you know," AJ said, "just talking about philosophy, I'm personally from the school of Sartre, but this guy over here, total Nietzsche freak. We just go on and on about the state of the self."

"Wow, smart too," Dolph winked at her, "add some more nerds to that pile."

"Stop," AJ shoved at him again, making him laugh.

"Okay, children in the front, I'm going back to sleep, wake me when we're in Cleveland," E said before he settled back into the seat.

"You know, I'm starting to think he's just using us for the free ride," Dolph stage-whispered as AJ nodded. "I should make him sleep in the car once we get to my parent's house. Luckily, I'm a pretty nice guy."

"I think so, I mean, you let me wear your super nice hoodie," AJ snuggled deeper inside of it. "Do you think you'll ever date anyone inside the company? I mean, there are a lot of women, surely one of them might…I don't know, be someone you'd want to be with."

"I can cross Brie off the list," he immediately said.

"Eww," AJ made a face, "I would lower my opinion if you dated her, not that Daniel is about to let her go. Were you in love with Nikki? Did you see a future with her?"

"No," Dolph shook his head "man, you really like the tough questions. Nikki was fun, and I was younger, and trying to make a name of myself at the same time she was, and we had fun together. That's what she was, she was fun, and she was pretty, and it was easy for a long time because we didn't really talk commitment or what came next. Nikki isn't like a lot of people think."

"I don't think she likes me very much," AJ shrugged. Dolph looked over in question. "Just a hunch, she just doesn't seem to like me, I don't know, I've never done anything to her, I've never really hung out with her, but there it is."

"She can come off that way, but she's not, at least she wasn't. She's with John now and I'm happy for her," Dolph shrugged.

"So…anyone else?"

"I don't know, what, are you setting me up for something?" he asked, not daring to ask if she was talking about herself, but the line of questioning was so specific, so targeted towards that, he was beginning to wonder if his feelings, whatever they were growing into, weren't going to be unreciprocated. If he allowed himself to like her, would it be under the knowledge that she felt the same way?

"I'm just wondering because, well, I've seen you with girls before—"

"I tend to like them, yeah."

"And I've seen you flirt with girls."

"Well, I'm not so good at that, ask my brother, speaking of whom, he told me it was weird when I had the match against him and Trent, and you were there, and Trent kind of said it was a little weird."

"Yeah, well, he can just suck it," AJ said.

"So let me turn the question around on you then? Would you want to date anyone else in the company? Do you see someone backstage whose eye you have on? Hopefully, he's not married though, I don't figure you for that type of girl."

"Right now, I guess not," she answered, but there was nothing to her voice he could analyze. "I just, I mean, I'm trying to focus on my career, so I think romance is being told to back the hell off. It's not like I can't do both, but I have so many goals I want to achieve."

"I know what you mean, I felt the same way. Also, I'm not as good with women as you might think. I mean, it's one thing to flirt, but I've never been very good at just…being myself. I always kind of put on the act when I'm with a woman. I need to find someone I can be myself with, that's when I know it'll be good. I won't have to be _on_ all the time."

"Are you on right now?"

"No, I'm not on right now," he laughed at the notion. "It's the middle of the night, I'm driving to my parent's house, I'm not anything right now, just a guy driving down the highway with his fake girlfriend, both wearing a couple of awesome hoodies, with a weightlifting champion sleeping in the backseat."

"Then I like this version of you best," she told him, turning back so she was facing forward and on the road ahead of them.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm actually really surprised by the love for this story, and so pleased! I hope you continue to like it, and reviews are never expected, but always appreciated. Enjoy! :)

* * *

Dolph yawned.

"Hey, do you want me to take over?" AJ wondered, "I'm good to go after that soda I just drank. I'm probably never going to sleep now."

"No, I'm good," he told her, glancing over at her. She was scrunched up in a corner of the seat, and he wondered how she managed to curl herself into a ball while still being strapped into her seatbelt. She was still buried in his hoodie, and she looked like she was shrinking into it. He half-expected to look over one time and just see his hoodie sitting there. "We're actually really close."

This caused her to sit up straighter and look out the window, "Are we? So we're close to where you grew up?"

"Yeah, we're a couple exits away, then it's about another fifteen minutes and we'll be there."

"Oh cool," she turned to look out the window again, even though it was still dark outside. All you could really see was what was directly under the streetlights on the side of the highway, and that wasn't exactly a view of much but the ground. "Did you like growing up here?"

"I didn't know much else," he laughed, "I mean, it's not like we moved around or anything. This is just where I grew up and I didn't know anything else. Me and my brothers, it was all kind of the same path for us, we all went to the same schools, we all wrestled in some capacity, and we all loved to prank each other and make jokes."

"I've never met your other brother, what's he like?"

"A lot saner than me and Briley, that's for sure," Dolph chuckled as he thought to his younger brother. "And honestly, I think if you saw him, you'd wonder why he isn't a wrestler. He probably looks more like a wrestler than me and Briley. He actually has the kind of look Vince loves."

"Really? But wrestling wasn't his passion?"

"It was really only my passion to begin with," Dolph told her, "I started when I was five, as you know—"

"You've only told me a million times, I'm going to ask your mom for videos so I can see you wrestle when you were younger, I bet you were the cutest."

"Cutest _and_ the best," Dolph said cockily. "You wouldn't know it from now, but I _can_ actually win a wrestling match. Anyways, while my brother wrestled like I did, I was the one who wanted all of this. Briley kind of came along slowly, he saw me doing it, saw all the elements of it that he loved, and he wanted it for himself. Donny's passion is dogs. He loves them, he wants to save all of them, especially pitbulls, he has a couple right now."

"Wow, that's admirable, is there anything bad about your family at all? Don't you have _any_ skeletons? Because as I see it right now, you're all pretty perfect," she giggled, and he sucked at his teeth a little bit. He wanted to tell her all about his family, but he refrained because she was probably being polite. He turned off the highway, and AJ made a little sound as she turned back towards the window. "Are we going to see anything significant to you?"

"No, not really," he told her, glancing over at her again, but she wasn't facing him anymore. He let his eyes linger on her for a second before he heard a throat clearing behind him. He quickly turned back towards the road, not daring a glance in the backseat because he knew if he did, E would be giving him a look.

He wondered if he was as transparent as he felt sometimes. It wasn't even a conscious thing most of the time, but sometimes he just…kind of stared at her. He didn't mean to, but he did, and he knew E had caught him doing it a number of times. E even had a look for it now, one that Dolph didn't feel like seeing in the middle of the night. This was the probably with having three of them in this faction, there was always one other person, hanging around, silently judging you.

AJ turned back and saw E was awake. "Hey, free loader, do you even think you'll get more sleep tonight because you slept the entire way here."

"Of course, I'm still exhausted."

"And you didn't even have a match tonight," AJ shook her head, "how are you so tired?"

"Have you seen our schedules?" E asked her. "I could probably sleep for three days at this point, couldn't you?"

"Maybe, we'll see, we have a show later, so that might not be possible," she shrugged. By now, Dolph was driving through residential streets. "Wow, this is really nice. This is where you grew up?"

"Yeah, this is where I spent my formative years."

"So now I can walk around and dissect the area to see why you are the way you are," she teased as he pulled into the driveway of a house. "Your parent's house is so nice, wow, we never had anything this nice growing up."

Dolph didn't know how to answer that. He knew about AJ's past, she'd told him one night when they were hanging out. She didn't cry, didn't go into hysterics, just laid out that her life was not easy, but her family loved each other, and made it through together. He couldn't see how anyone could not love her just a little bit if they heard where she came from, and how hard she worked to get here.

"Come on, you must be tired, let's get situated."

He stepped out of the car, feeling relaxed in a way that only being home could make a person and he went to the trunk to grab their things, only the essentials though, the rest could be saved until morning. He handed E his bag, and grabbed his and AJ's. She held out her hand to grab her bag, but he shook his head. She tilted her head in argument, stabbing him with a look, but he didn't budge, just shutting the trunk and walking up the path.

"You don't always have to be the gentleman, you know, I'm perfectly capable of holding my bag."

"I know you are, doesn't matter," he told her, turning around and walking backwards up the path. His face was illuminated by the porch lights and he grinned at her as she glared at him. He turned around and went up to the door, grabbing his key and opening it up. "Knowing my mom she's—"

"It's about time you three got here," Kelly said, immediately going up to her son and giving him a hug, even though he was carrying two bags. "I hate thinking about you out there in the middle of the night on a Saturday, that's when the crazies come out."

"A lot of people would consider that us," Dolph told her, and she pat his cheek.

"You look good, a little worse for the wear."

"Thanks, Mom," he said, "You look like you haven't slept."

"You'd be correct," she moved over to E, who held his hand out for her. "No, shaking hands, just no, come here." She gave E a hug, which he returned tentatively.

"My mom's a hugger, it's a condition we're looking into," Dolph explained.

"It's very nice to meet you," she told him. "You are gigantic in person, but I shouldn't be surprised because I've seen you toss around wrestlers, I see good things for you, I've seen you in NXT since my other son is there, not to brag that I have both sons in the company, but well…"

"And now I see where he gets it," E joked.

"Shut up, dude, I'll throw you out," Dolph speared him with a look, but couldn't keep the laugh out of his voice.

"And I know you, and I'm sure my son knows you by now too if we're being honest," Kelly said, going over to AJ, who was already laughing. They hugged companionably. "Yeah, I think I would want to be with you too if you pushed someone off a ladder for me."

"Oh, you hear that?" AJ said, looking over at Dolph gamely. "Your mom wants me."

"You can't have her, Mom, at least not for now," he told her, "I'm kind of using her at the moment."

"I should hope so," Kelly gave him the same look E always gave him when he was caught staring at AJ, and he quickly looked away. "Okay, let me show you two to your rooms."

His mother lead the three of them upstairs, showing AJ and E where their rooms were before coming into her son's room, gently closing the door behind her. She sat down on the edge of the bed as Dolph unzipped his things and put them on his old dresser. "Don't give me that look, Mom."

"I'm not giving you a look, not _now_ anyways."

"Please don't say anything because I know what you're going to say, and you know what, I know it. I know how I look, I know how I come across, and I'm just hoping she doesn't."

"Why though? She seems like the sweetest, cutest thing."

"I know, and she is, but if she doesn't…then here I am, stuck with her week after week knowing that I have these feelings and she doesn't. We're in this for the long haul, Mom, they want this for a while, and…if she doesn't, I'm just there with my feelings hanging out in the wind."

"I don't know, honey, I think she might feel the same way," Kelly told her son.

"But you don't _know_, and for the love of God, Mom, please don't talk to her about it," Dolph pleaded with his mother. He knew his mother had good intentions with this, but the last thing he needed was intervention from his mother of all people. He already felt pathetic around AJ, he didn't need to feel like a chastised little boy.

"You know, for all your showing off, you've never been good around women you actually like. The ones you don't, you charm the pants off them, but every time I've seen you around a girl you genuinely like, you turn into a scared, little boy."

"Are you telling me to grow a pair, Mom?"

"I'm saying that it wouldn't hurt," Kelly smirked. "AJ is a good person, you don't need to even know her to see that, but you know her now, and you see it, and you like it."

"I like her, you can say it, Mom, I like her, and I like her a lot. You can't help it. She's just so…uniquely her, and she loves this business, she's been watching as long as I have, I can reference someone like Bastion Booger or Shawn Stasiak and she knows who I'm talking about."

"Well, I'm just saying, I like her already," Kelly stood up and pat him on the back before she went to the door, "Sleep well."

"Thanks, Mom," he said, turning back to his bag as she shut the door. He changed into a pair of pajama pants as he pulled off his shirt. He went into his bathroom and brushed his teeth, happy that he had his own bathroom and wouldn't run the risk of running into AJ. He didn't know why, but seeing her in her pajamas and with him in his own, it would feel…strange and too intimate, more intimate than he could take at the moment. He turned off the lights and climbed into the bed, the mattress familiar and curved just for him. He turned on his back, his arm over his head as he stared up into the darkness for a moment. He closed his eyes, hoping sleep would come soon. They had a show later that evening, and he needed at least four hours sleep.

There was a knock on the door, and he groaned, "Mom, I'm settled in, I don't need anything."

The door opened and from the faint light from the nightlight his mom kept in the hallway, he saw a small outline that definitely could not be his mother. His eyes adjusted to the dark and he saw AJ standing there in a small tank top that lifted a little bit to show off her abs, and some loose shorts that were criminally short in length. His eyes widened a little bit. He'd seen her in less, but his breath still caught a little bit.

"Hey."


End file.
